Allen & Heath ZED-14

The ZED-14 is a fantastic entry-level mixer for smallbands, solo performers or AV applications. Its comprehensive feature set, compact size and fine lines combine to make it one of the best small mixers around. Provided with configurable USB audio in/out makes it easy to capture stereo recordings, 6 mic or line inputs, 4 stereo inputs with EQ, there are an incredible 157 controls on the front panel of the ZED-14.
This is a mixer for anyone, from entry-level to professionals, who appreciates fantastic sound, rugged build quality and imaginative feature sets. It’ll be equally happy running your gig on stage, recording live or mixing down in your studio at home.
Allen & Heath teamed up with a major software supplier, Cakewalk, to bundle its SONAR X1 LE music creation and audio production software with ZED, giving you a fantastic, high spec digital audio workstation.
Features:
6 mono channels
Neutrik mic XLR
Neutrik 1/4 inch jacks
Channel insert
Super wide gain ‘DuoPre’ mic line input
3 band EQ with MusiQ
4 auxes
Illuminated mute
Sound image pan
Illuminated PFL & peak warning indicator
ALPS 100mm faders
4 stereo channels with 2-band EQ and inputs for extrasources
Stereo returns & playback
All inputs with level control
12 bar meters
Mono/stereo function on auxes 1&2
Monitor output section
Alt stereo output source
Configurable USB stereo audio in/out
Cakewalk SONAR X1 LE bundled with mixer
Rack ears available
USB audio flexibility
Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way this has been implemented on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that's it! CD quality audio to and from your PC or Mac. Switches and connection through jack socket terminals provide different send/return configurations:-
Send options:
Main Mix Left + Right (Post-fade)
Main Mix Left + Right (Pre-Fade)
Auxes 1-2
Auxes 3-4
Return options:
To Stereo 3 channel
MusiQ
ZED-14 features a responsive 3-band, swept mid frequency EQ design which utilises MusiQ – with optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual instruments.
DuoPre™
Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, ZED-14 has DuoPre pre-amps, which use a two stage design, with carefully controlled amounts of gain in each stage. When amplifying the signal from the XLR input, the gain range is huge - 69dB of range to be exact - and is very evenly distributed around the gain control, meaning better control of signal level. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, so unwanted noise is kept to a minimum. Line level signals are simply plugged into the second stage of the pre-amp by using the line input jack socket, which has the great advantage of less noise when using the line input and also matching to a
higher input impedance.
SONAR X1 LE – Provided Free!
Allen & Heath included Cakewalk SONAR X1 LE with ZED-14 so you can immediately start to use it to create your own music – just add a PC and it couldn’t be easier to get going. You’ll be able to record from your ZED mixer, create tracks and arrange songs, then play back to ZED via the USB port. You can use SONAR X1 LE and your ZED mixer together in many ways – e.g. straightforward recording of a stereo mix, recording tracks individually to build up a song, or using the USB port and software as an effects loop.
SONAR X1 LE Features
Powered by SONAR X1
32 audio tracks
64 MIDI tracks
8 simultaneous inputs and outputs
24-bit/96 kHz audio quality
24 simultaneous effects
8 simultaneous virtual instruments
Specifications:
Input
Mono channel (XLR) Input +6 to –63dBu for nominal (+17dBu in max)
Mono channel Line Input (Jack socket) +10 to –26dBu (+30dBu maximum)
Insert point (TRS Jack socket) 0dBu nominal +21dBu maximum
Stereo Input (Jack sockets) 0dBu nominal (control = Off to +10dB)
Stereo input (phono sockets) 0dBu nominal (control = Off to +10dB)
Output
L, R & Mono Outputs (L&R XLR, Mono Jack) 0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.
Aux Outputs (Jack sockets) 0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.
Alt Outputs (phono sockets) 0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.
Rec Outputs (phono sockets) 0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.
Frequency Response
Mic in to Mix L/R Out, 30dB gain +0.5/-1dB 20Hz to 20kHz.
Line in to Mix L/R out 0dB gain +0.5/-1dB 10Hz to 30kHz
Stereo in to Mix L/R out +0.5/-1dB 10Hz to 30kHz
THD+n
Mic in to Mix L/R Out, 0dB gain 1kHz +10dBu out 0.004%
Mic in to Mix L/R Out, 30dB gain 1kHz 0.014%
Line in to Mix L/R out 0dB gain 0dBu 1kHz 0.005%
Stereo in to Mix L/R out 0dB gain +10dBu 1kHz 0.003%
Headroom
Analogue Headroom from nominal (0Vu) 21dB
USB in & out headroom from nominal (0Vu) 14dB
USB Audio CODEC (Coder/Decoder)
USB Audio In/Out USB 1.1 compliant 16bit.
Sample Rate 32, 44.1, or 48kHz
Noise
Mic Pre EIN @ max gain 150R input Z 22-22kHz -127dBu
Mix L/R out, L/R faders = 0, 22-22kHz ZED-14 -88dBu
Mix L/R out, L/R faders = 0, 22-22kHz ZED-18 -86dBu
Mix L/R out, L/R faders = 0, 22-22kHz ZED-24 -84dBu
Weight and Dimensions
14.3 lb
15"W x 8.3"L x 3.86"H (to top highest point)